“Business Days” The exact reasons are a bit of a mystery, but there’s no question that Buyers’ home inspections have become more drawn out in recent years. So, once upon a time, it was customary to allow Buyers three days to perform the inspection; one more day to provide the Seller with a written list...Read More
Disposing of Old Paint (Or Not) I have an (almost) fail-safe way of predicting whether or not the Buyer wants the Seller’s old paint. If the Seller leaves it . . . the Buyer wants it removed. If the Sellers gets rid of it . . . . the Buyer wanted it left. Coin Flip...Read More
Fill in Date [Here] As if to underscore the point, commercial real estate guys like to say, “As Is . . . Where Is.” I have my own suggested tweak: “Sold ‘As Is’ . . . As Of.” As in, “As of the date that the Buyer and Seller signed the contract.” Adding “As Of”...Read More
In the Middle Without Being In the Middle Most listing agents, myself included, take pains to avoid negotiating the sale of personal property. See, “And Repeat: ‘Never Negotiate Furniture.'” But that doesn’t mean I sidestep the issue altogether. When asked, I’m happy to provide Sellers with the names of reputable, local estate sale companies (yes,...Read More
First-Time? Yes. Buyers? Not Exactly When is an uptick in new household formation BAD for home sales? When it’s the non-human kind. According to a wildlife contractor I’m working with now, Fall is when juvenile squirrels, mice, and raccoons look to establish their own “new households.” Unfortunately, their preferred real estate is often attics, crawl...Read More
Bottle Openers & Grand Pianos If fixtures were a function of size, the grand piano would stay with the home while the wall-mounted bottle opener would go. But they’re not (a function of size). Rather, whether or not something’s a fixture depends on whether it’s permanently attached to the home. Even then, Buyers’ and Sellers’...Read More
